Factors of Korean Road Accidents from Insurance Records

Abstract Korean transport safety has shown behavioral patterns including relatively more vulnerable to the pedestrian compared to other OECD countries. This research aims to reveal more specific factors of such Korean Road Accidents patterns in terms of the injury severity. This research analyzed 3,370 empirical insurance records, which the Korean government had gathered from 2008 to 2012, through Generalized Ordered Logit Regression model. More than 140 independent variables include collision types, traffic rule violations, road structures, vehicle types, and other socio-economic factors. This research observes more fragile vehicle types, such as a pedestrian, of the party less negligence, increased the log-odds intriguingly to be in a higher level of injury severity while a more massive vehicle with less accountability decreases the log-odds. This research also proves that traditional right-angled crossroads, speed bumps on curved roads, and junctions between auto roads and sidewalks are problematic in Korean road safety. Social behaviors such as the party’s not having driving licenses or insurances tended to augment the log-odds. Based on these findings, this research suggests policy recommendations including lowering speed limits in the residential areas, enlarging the application of the international pedestrian protection safety standards, enforcing the relevant regulations and training, and so on.